Bridges 
Theodore  Roosevelt 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


Theodore  Roosevelt 

As  Author  and  Contributor 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT  OF 

DEAN  AND  MRS. 
GUSTAVE  0.  ARLT 


Theodore  Roosevelt 


Copyright  by  Pirie  MacDonald. 


Theodore  Roosevelt 

As  Author  and  Contributor 


By 
Robert  Bridges 


York 
Charles  S£rjJbner's  Sons 

Publisher^ofacribner's  Magazine 
1919 


COLONEL  ROOSEVELT,  as  a  con- 
tributor for  twenty  years  to  Scribners 
Magazine,  was  one  of  the  most 
thoughtful,  considerate,  and  efficient  au- 
thors. When  he  promised  a  manuscript  for 
a  certain  date,  that  promise  was  kept  abso- 
lutely, no  matter  what  intervened. 

When  he  returned  from  the  Spanish- 
American  War  and  landed  at  Montauk,  he 
sent  word  to  the  magazine  that  he  wanted 
to  talk  about  his  proposed  story  of  "The 
Rough  Riders."  Just  before  he  started  on 
that  expedition  he  had  said  in  a  brief  in- 
terview: "If  I  come  back,  you  shall  have 
the  first  chance  at  anything  I  write." 

It  was,  therefore,  on  the  first  afternoon 
after  he  returned  to  his  home  at  Oyster 
Bay  that,  on  the  lawn  at  Sagamore  Hill,  we 
talked  over  the  book  which  developed  into 

in 


1561 61 ' 


Theodore  Roosevelt 


"The  Rough  Riders."  It  was  all  perfectly 
clear  in  the  Colonel's  mind.  He  knew  the 
grand  divisions  of  his  story,  although  he 
had  not  written  a  line.  There  were  to  be 
six  articles,  and  the  date  was  set  for  the 
delivery  of  the  first  one  so  that  the  serial 
could  begin  in  the  magazine  promptly. 

Very  soon  he  was  nominated  for  Governor 
of  New  York.  I  said  to  him  one  day:  "I 
suppose  this  will  interfere  with  your  dates 
for 'The  Rough  Riders'?" 

"Not  at  all,"  he  replied;  "you  shall  have 
the  various  chapters  at  the  time  promised." 

As  everybody  knows,  he  made  a  vigorous 
campaign  for  Governor  of  New  York,  and 
was  elected,  and  inaugurated  in  the  follow- 
ing January.  Notwithstanding  this  arduous 
and  exciting  time,  he  fulfilled  every  promise 
and  the  book  was  delivered  on  time. 

It  was  the  same  way  with  his  "Oliver 
Cromwell,"  which  was  written  while  he  was 
Governor  of  New  York.  He  was  a  busy 

[2] 


As  Author  and  Contributor 

man,  but  his  literary  work  was  just  as  com- 
plete as  though  he  had  devoted  his  whole 
time  to  it. 

When  he  was  President  he  sent  for  me, 
and,  taking  me  into  his  library,  opened  a 
drawer  in  his  desk,  lifted  out  a  complete 
manuscript,  put  it  on  the  desk,  and  said  in 
effect: 

"It  isn't  customary  for  Presidents  to 
publish  a  book  during  office,  but  I  am  go- 
ing to  publish  this  one." 

We  then  went  over  together  the  com- 
plete manuscript  of  "Outdoor  Pastimes  of 
an  American  Hunter."  Some  of  these 
papers  had  been  written  before.  Other 
chapters  were  the  product  of  his  hunting 
trips  in  Colorado  and  Louisiana  while  Presi- 
dent. The  book  was  ready  for  the  printer, 
title-page  and  all. 

In  all  the  long  and  busy  years  of  his 
Presidency,  if  you  wrote  and  asked  him  a 
question  one  day,  the  reply,  almost  with- 

[3] 


Theodore  Roosevelt 


out  exception,  would  be  received  on  the 
third  day,  just  as  soon  as  a  letter  could 
get  to  Washington,  be  answered  and  re- 
turned; and  all  his  letters  had  a  personal 
touch,  with  characteristic  corrections,  or 
the  impulsive  postscript  written  with  his 
own  hand. 

To  him  the  making  of  a  book  was  a  de- 
light. He  knew  all  the  machinery  of  it,  and 
he  read  his  proofs  with  the  accuracy  and 
industry  of  an  expert. 

But  the  literary  work  that  he  best  en- 
joyed was  writing  his  "African  Game 
Trails."  The  whole  book,  even  the  preface, 
was  written  by  his  own  hand,  word  for 
word,  in  triplicate,  in  the  very  heart  of 
Africa.  One  of  the  men  who  was  with  him 
said  that  no  matter  how  arduous  the  day 
in  the  hunting-field,  night  after  night  he 
would  see  the  Colonel  seated  on  a  camp- 
stool,  with  a  feeble  light  on  the  table,  writ- 
ing the  narrative  of  his  adventures.  Chap- 

[4] 


As  Author  and  Contributor 

ter  by  chapter  this  narrative  was  sent  by 
runners  from  the  heart  of  Africa.  Two 
copies  were  despatched  at  different  times. 
When  he  got  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Nile 
one  of  the  chapters  was  sent  from  Nairobi 
and  the  duplicate  was  sent  down  the  Nile 
to  Cairo.  These  blue  canvas  envelopes 
often  arrived  much  battered  and  stained, 
but  never  did  a  single  chapter  miss. 

It  was  the  same  way  with  his  "Brazilian 
Wilderness,"  and  the  Colonel  used  a  part 
of  the  same  stock  of  paper  that  he  had  taken 
to  Africa.  Each  block  consisted  of  three 
shades  arranged  in  order,  white,  blue,  and 
yellow,  so  that  the  original  and  two  copies 
were  distinctly  marked.  Only  a  few  months 
ago  the  Colonel  said:  "I  have  just  used  the 
last  of  those  pads  that  I  took  with  me  to 
Africa."  A  special  water-tight  and  ant- 
proof  case  had  been  made  for  that  trip  and 
loaded  with  enough  paper,  as  it  proved,  to 
write  half  a  dozen  books. 

[5] 


Theodore  Roosevelt 


In  civilized  countries  the  Colonel  gen- 
erally dictated  his  articles  and  books,  but 
made  a  most  thorough  revision  of  the  type- 
written copy.  The  stenographer  who  took 
his  dictation  for  "Oliver  Cromwell,"  when 
Roosevelt  was  Governor,  said  that  he  would 
appear  in  his  study  with  some  books  of 
reference  and  a  pad  of  memoranda.  Then 
he  would  start  to  dictate,  and  with  hardly 
a  pause  would  complete  a  chapter  of  his- 
torical narrative  which  demanded  a  very 
careful  knowledge  of  dates  and  places.  This 
was  not  as  easy  as  a  narrative  of  personal 
experiences.  Nevertheless,  I  once  read  a 
chapter  of  it  before  the  Colonel  had  seen 
the  stenographer's  transcript.  It  could  have 
been  printed  as  it  stood,  with  mere  mechan- 
ical proofreading  corrections. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  took  a  great  interest 
in  the  illustrations,  the  type  page,  and  the 
cover  of  his  books.  He  came  in  one  day 
with  a  painting  made  by  a  friend  of  one  of 

[6] 


As  Author  and  Contributor 

his  boys  and  said:  "I  think  that  will  make  a 
first-rate  frontispiece  in  color  for  "A  Book- 
Lover's  Holiday  in  the  Open.'  "  It  was  the 
painting  of  a  cougar  in  a  tree  on  the  brink 
of  the  Grand  Canyon. 

His  son  Kermit,  who  was  with  him  on  his 
African  and  Brazilian  trips,  became  an  ex- 
pert photographer  and  made  hundreds  of 
photographs  from  which  both  of  those  books 
were  illustrated.  It  was  a  delight  to  see  the 
father  and  son  together  going  over  this  ma- 
terial and  making  the  choice  of  pictures. 
Each  would  recall  some  incident,  and  the 
anecdote  and  by-play  were  as  good  as  any- 
thing in  the  printed  books. 

The  Colonel  was  particularly  proud  of 
Kermit's  endurance.  He  said  one  day  that 
there  was  not  a  single  one  of  the  negro 
runners  who  could  outlast  Kermit  in  the 
African  wilds. 

In  short,  Colonel  Roosevelt  was  the  ideal 
contributor,  the  ideal  author  to  deal  with, 

[7] 


Theodore  Roosevelt 


open  to  every  suggestion  and  ready  to  con- 
sider any  reasonable  change.  It  was  an 
unending  pleasure  to  work  with  him.  He 
inspired  the  same  sort  of  loyalty  in  his  liter- 
ary coworkers  as  he  did  among  the  mem- 
bers of  his  regiment  of  soldiers.  Those  who 
knew  him  adored  him,  even  though  they 
often  disagreed  with  him. 


[8] 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

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